Oman To Buy More F-16s, and Switch Recce Pod Provider

Oman is set to buy a further 18 Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 50/52 aircraft in a package worth $3.5 billion. The U.S. Congress was notified of the potential sale earlier this month. The package also includes conformal fuel tanks, 18 Lockheed Martin Sniper targeting pods and four Goodrich DB-110 reconnaissance pods. Oman's first batch of 12 F-16s, already in service, would be upgraded where necessary with the enhanced systems that form part of the new package. These include Northrop Grumman APG-69(V)9 radars; ALE-47, ALE-50 and either ALQ-187 or ALQ-211 electronic warfare systems; and joint helmet-mounted cueing systems. Oman's choice of the DB-110 electro-optical (EO) camera system is noteworthy, since the first batch of F-16s featured a rival EO system from BAE Systems North America. AIN understands that all six countries that have ordered F-16s in recent years–Greece, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Poland, and the UAE–have specified the DB-110.